seriously concerning

The other day I was listening to the radio in the morning while I was getting ready for work and the topic of conversation really got my attention. They were discussing a poll that was taken asking people whether or not they think that the dolls they have out there these days for little girls are too provocative. The results of this question were an overwhelming 'Yes' (thank goodness). These dolls include the Bratz dolls, Bling-Bling Barbie... and I don't even know what else. Particularly troubling to parents are their knee-high boots, mini skirts, midriffs, and makeup. But it's not only that. These provocative dolls portray a certain attitude as well.

When the creators of these dolls were confronted about this image they were creating for young girls, of course they denied it. They claim that they are creating a child-like fantasy for girls and "they (the young girls) know" that it's not reality [...jaw drops...speechless...in shock...still can't believe what i'm hearing!!]. WHO ARE THESE MONSTERS THAT ARE WORKING THERE?!?! Do they not have any kids of their own?!?! Can they not see what our culture is turning into?!?! Who does the hiring there and what is their sceening process?! Honestly.

I took a Christian Ethics course in my last term of university and we did a class on "Buying Into Sexy: The Sexing Up of Tweens". (If this subject is as interesting/infuriating to you as it is to me, then you will definitely want to read this article or download the video.) We talked about the sad role that men and women in our culture are expected to live up to (a.k.a. "gender scripts"). But we also talked about the one thing that disgusts me the most... "age compression". Even just 10 years ago manufacturers and marketers of the sexy image targeted the 16 to 18 year olds. Now the focus is on the 10 to 12 year olds (Tangent: did you know that La Senza sells bras size 30AA?!! Who the heck even needs to wear a bra at that size!!! Seriously... it's all for image... it's supposed to be cool if your straps are showing). I know for sure that fashion was not a big concern for me at that age... big t-shirts and baggy blue jeans was the extent of my wardrobe. I believe it's our culture and its hunger for the almighty dollar that has changed that.... and it makes me so sad because there's such a huge maturity gap between 10 and 16 years old.

Candies, a shoe company manufacturer targeting tweens (8 to 14 year olds), has a shirt that reads: "Be sexy: It doesn't mean you have to have sex", which is worn in advertisments by Ashlee Simpson as part of their marketing strategy. Candies' CEO says, "Although some people could say it's hypocritical, we think it makes a lot of sense. Just because a girl wants to dress up and look good and maybe look sexy doesn't mean that she should have a baby or doesn't mean that she wants to have sex." Talk about mixed messages being sent to, and moulding, the minds of children right at the age when they are most easily influenced as they just begin to discover themselves and find independence... !! Sound like a recipe for trouble?

This doesn't only influence girls though. Boys these days are consuming a bimbo image of women... and that will be how they treat women later in life obviously, because that's all they've ever known or been shown. It's there for the guys in music videos, sports (cheerleaders), and video games (Ex. WWE -- there are women wrestlers who rip each others clothes off; and Tony Hawk Underground -- a game about skateboarding which, interestingly enough, has a strip club in it, which statisically is more frequently visited than other areas of the game).

When I was living in Montreal I was watching the news one night and (I'll never forget this) in one of their segments they said that 25% of kids between the ages of 10 and 14 in Montreal have had sex already!!! And what's even more horrifying is that their parents are ok with this as long as they're using protection (which they can't confirm because parents don't talk to their children about these issues anymore... it's easier for them to just ignore it than to try to bring it up in conversation because they know that they're taught Sex Ed in school. I don't know about you, but my school's Health class sure didn't teach me about safe sex at age 10!). Thinking back, I think I was probably starting to notice boys and get crushes at age 10, but I'm sure I was too scared to talk to them. And at 14 years old I was thinking about holding hands and my first kiss (no tongue!)... NOT sex. That didn't cross my mind for a while yet.

It's really no wonder there's sooooo much sexual sin these days.... so much rape, STDs, pornography addiction, adult entertainment, promiscuity, affairs, divorces, broken families, single parents, unwanted children and abortions, workplace harrassment when our generation has faught so hard for equality... and the list goes on and on... all stemming back to this "simple" influence from our childhood to emulate whoever or whatever it is that's out there that we look up to.

Julie was over at my house on Thursday night and we were flipping through the channels after Survivor and just happened to stop and watch for a bit when we came to the Life Network where they were showing The Nanny. My goodness, that was scary! It definitely got both of us thinking and talking about how our culture is creating kids with bad behavior and developing unacceptable habits in them. They are becoming completely out of control and their parents just cannot handle them any longer. If kids are like this now, then what are they going to be like in 10 years when/if I have kids of my own to raise?! How good are my parenting skills gonna be?! It can't be an easy job. I'm definitely going to have to retreat to country!

At church last Sunday the pastor's sermon was entitled "Sex in the City of God". He talked about how we all struggle with sexual sin of some sort, Christians and non-Christians alike, whether it be in thought or in action, but the point he was getting at is that we need an intimate relationship with God. We can try many things to try to keep us from falling into sex-related sin (ie. firewalls on our computers, stay away from certian places, don't watch certain shows on tv, don't associate with people who influence us in this way, etc.), but when it comes down to it, God is the only answer. Only He can give us the strength that we need to resist, and only He can save and protect us from our sinful nature. Therefore, the closer we are to Him, the more in love with God we are, the better off we'll be. Sexual sin will no longer have a hold on us because God has made us clean. I think it's time we start showing our kids a real love so that it's not merely peer approval that they seek after.

I hope you can see the connection I've tried to make between all these stories and real-life issues that I've talked about. And I hope you can understand the vastness, complexity, and importance of it. Now I'd like to end on a happier note. Going back to where I began, the discussion I heard on the radio Friday morning... they also talked about some of the dolls that we had as kids growing up:

Raggedy Ann/Raggedy Andy (nothing sexy about that!)
Strawberry Shortcake
Cabbage Patch Kids
Care Bears
Pound Puppies
My Little Pony
Rainbow Bright
Barbie (the innocent kind)

Can you think of any others?